


The Demons Outside

by Zab43



Category: Cthulhu Mythos - Fandom, Good Omens (TV), Good Omens - Neil Gaiman & Terry Pratchett
Genre: Descent into Madness, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-08
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-05 22:22:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25782826
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Zab43/pseuds/Zab43
Summary: A Cthulhu mythos/Good Omens crossover. Well, "Hastur" is part of the mythos so it didn't seem like too much of a leap.A tale of the descent into madness.The demons are real, but they're not the worst thing out there...It kind of has a nearly happy ending...well, not really
Relationships: Hastur & Original Character
Kudos: 6





	The Demons Outside

**Author's Note:**

> So the psychosis is running strong in my house at the moment. Not me this time but I am a carer. Tbh it's not as bad as in the story and hopefully won't get any worse, but this is all stuff uncomfortably near to reality.
> 
> **trigger warning for any paranoid schizophrenics or their carers**
> 
> Remember kids: don't stop your meds without proper supervision....

The van was outside again. This time it had 'Thames Water' on it, last time it had said 'BT Open Reach' and before that 'Iceland', but he knew it was the same van. The van with the demons in.

They'd been watching him for a while. He wasn't sure exactly how long. He'd only noticed them in the last couple of months. It had started when he saw one hanging around the pharmacy where he collected his medication.

He knew then that he was being watched. As soon as he'd seen one he started seeing more. One at the bus stop, a couple in the doctor's waiting room. Then the van outside.

He realised they were getting closer, honing in on him. He wasn't sure what they wanted with him yet, but it wasn't good. So long as he stayed in the house he thought he'd be reasonably safe.

Lock the door, don't trust anyone, not even the postman. He had enough food to last weeks without going out. It would mean a fairly restrictive diet, but better that than having to go out and let the demons get him.

After about a week of them watching he'd realised they might have already found a way in. There had been one at the pharmacy. Had they got at his medication? It was possible. If they were trying to hurt him it was an obvious place to start. He took so many pills every day, morning and night. If they'd got at just one set that could be enough. Best stop taking them.

Things had got worse after that. The demons were there every day now. He could feel them, hear their chatter as they watched, waited. It got worse too. They were trying to steal his thoughts now. Suck them right out of his head. It was driving him mad.

Draw the blinds, close the curtains. Such a cliche but maybe a tinfoil hat! It sounded ridiculous, but it might insulate his thoughts from the hungry demons. After a few more days he tried it. Lining the inside of a cap with layers of foil and putting it on.

He hated this, this was what crazy people did. He wasn't crazy, just trying to shield his thoughts from those demons. It became obvious it wasn't going to work. The foil did nothing to protect him.

Outside Hastur was watching. He'd first seen the human outside a shop and been curious. Usually humans didn't see him, or not as a demon anyway. This one had known right away. He'd heard the thought loud and clear "demon".

He had followed the man into the shop and tried to lurk unobtrusively near the back. The man, however, wasn't fooled. He somehow knew he was being watched. Even when the demon threw his best lurk tactics at it he was still seen.

Hastur was intrigued. He started following the man more often. He even invited Ligur along a couple of times. It was fascinating. He could really see them, knew at once they were demons. It didn't matter what disguise they adopted he saw right through it.

Eventually the man had stopped going out and Hastur had lost interest. It was probably just a one off. None of the other humans seemed to be able to see him.

He did still wonder though. How had the man spotted him? How had he known immediately that he was a demon? Finally why hadn't the man told anyone, found a priest or something? Eventually curiosity had got the better of him and he'd gone back to the man's house.

He'd thought things couldn't get any worse, but then the demons found a way into his dreams. Every time he got close to falling asleep he could feel them. They were waiting, waiting for him to lower his defences, let go his vigilance and slip into vulnerable sleep. Once he was out they could find a way in.

He'd wake sweating and screaming, thrashing about in the bed. The demons had been there, he knew it. He could hear them now too, so near, watching waiting, like rats in the walls. He considered taking down the plaster. At least he'd be able to see them then. Knowing they were there, hearing them move and whisper to each other in the darkness, but not being able to see them was almost unbearable.

It hurt his head to think now. The demons had stolen so many thoughts, sucked part of his brain away, he couldn't remember things very clearly. Had it always been like this? Besieged by demons, unable to think or remember.

When had he last eaten? He thought he was hungry, but the demons were in the house by now. Barricade the bedroom door - one corner for sleeping and he'd have to use the other corner for a bathroom. It was starting to smell, but the demons were just outside. Don't open the door. His stock of biscuits was running low, had they poisoned them too? Best not to eat them just in case.

Outside Hastur sensed a soul in torment. The man who'd seen him was really suffering. Gently he reached out with his mind to feel the thoughts and emotions of the other.

He was shocked by what he found. Inside the other's mind was Hell. Worse than Hell in fact and Hastur knew a thing or two about Hell.

There was so much pain, so much fear, he didn't understand how this had happened. How could this human torment himself in such a way? It made the efforts of him and the other demons pale into insignificance. The lowest pits of Hell had nothing on what he was doing to himself.

Hastur read the paranoia and realised it had started when the man had seen him. Seen him and known him as a demon. That shouldn't have happened.

Humans usually have protection. There is a certain wilful curtain of ignorance they draw across the recesses of their perception to prevent them from seeing the world as it really is.

He'd read somewhere how a human had described it. Their inability to see beyond their own 'island of ignorance' was described as 'the most merciful thing in the world'. For this human there was no mercy. He'd seen the world and couldn't un-see it. Actually maybe that wasn't entirely true.

Hastur reached out again, feeling through the soft defenceless layers of the man's thoughts. He gently pried away the terror, the agony of his full cognisance of reality. Ah, there it was. The mental curtain was drawn back exposing the human to things as they really were.

He concentrated, trying to gather up the fabric with his mind. There, got it. Hastur twitched the curtain with a single thought. As it screened the man's consciousness from the truth he felt the other relax. He was asleep now.

This time he was safely asleep too. The various curious spirits that had been poking around his head for the last few weeks retreated. They had been surprised they had managed to get in, humans were usually immune to their influence, but for some reason this one was vulnerable. It happened every so often. A mind opened itself and the screaming howling spirits of another dimension found themselves an opening.

The spirits were disappointed, but not unduly. They would find another. This one had been nearly spent anyway. They'd feasted on his thoughts for weeks until there was nearly nothing left. Then, somehow, the rip had been repaired, the curtain drawn. They had been forced out.

They were aware that in this dimension other beings existed. Other than the vulnerable, tasty, human consciousness. Angels who helped the humans, demons who hurt them. Well, this human must have got himself a guardian angel. Another being to defend him from their influence.

Hastur had a vague awareness of The Others. He'd felt them around humans before. He shuddered to think of them. They were cold and curious and hungry, so very hungry. He didn't normally intervene, but having felt at first hand the results of their malign feasting (and feeling himself at least partly responsible for them getting in) he had made an exception.

Technically defending the human from the hunger of The Others was a 'good deed'. However, if they had consumed the man entirely there wouldn't have been enough left for Heaven or for Hell. A life obliterated, no soul left to claim. Well, this time the creatures wouldn't devour another soul.

He sighed as he realised he was now invested in ensuring the human went to Hell. It didn't seem fair after what he'd been through already, but it was a demon's job after all. Hell would be a picnic compared to the torments he'd already experienced anyway.

The demon wandered off. He'd give the human some time to recover before he came again. Let his little mind seal over any remaining cracks, get his physical health back. But then, well then he'd be back.


End file.
